Page 42 of Lost Luggage
She studied him over the bowl of crisps and Red Leicester cubes. His eyes looked puffier than usual.
‘Tony. I misunderstood his Facebook photos,’ said Leroy. ‘Those younger men were colleagues from work. For once he’s kept his love life more private – proof it’s serious. He was always posting about us.’
Dolly took another crisp.
‘TheheI thought he’d been dating is ashe.’
‘Okayyy, but you’ve always known he dates men and women.’
‘It’s not that… He’s fallen in love, Dolly, for the first time in his life, he said.’ Leroy picked out three lumps of cheese and put them all in his mouth at once. ‘What’s more, she’s pregnant. Tony’s ecstatic, even talked of marriage, laughed about forty being the new thirty. He agreed to meet me because he wants to stay friends, said both their dads are dead and I’d be a brilliant grandfather figure to the baby.’ His eyes glistened under the moonlight that had first introduced him to Tony, by the canal in the gay village, all those months ago. ‘Imagine, me a granddad, sitting there in my tight chinos, drinking a jelly shot and looking at him through fog bubbles.’ She reached across the table and placed her hand on his. ‘I’ve never seen Tony like this before, Dolly. It’s as if someone’s struck a match and lit him up from the inside.’
‘Pity he didn’t explode. Thoughtless bugger.’
Leroy gave a hollow laugh. ‘I didn’t know what to say, tried to be grown up about it.’
‘Fuck that,’ she said, taking a leaf out of Phoebe’s book, not caring if Greta was frowning down.
Leroy couldn’t help laughing, for real this time.
‘I’m serious. He wants his ex to be his baby’s grandfather? The ex he hurt deeply? The man with the biggest heart in Knutsmere, who shakes his stuff on the dance floor better than anyone I know?’ She put her drink down. ‘Indoors. Now. I’m in the mood for a boogie – that’ll heal us far more quickly than Khonsu.’
‘Not until you tell me how your evening went.’
She paused, knocked back her wine and set the glass down again, before words tumbled out about Fred’s dodgy past, the incriminating photos, Greta’s threats.
Leroy gave a long whistle. ‘That’s some big sister, looking out for you to that extreme.’
‘If Tony was involved with petty crime would you have preferred me to ward him off in secret, or let you confront him?’
‘Fair point.’
Greta had loved Dolly when her own mum couldn’t be bothered, but those photos, that written threat, now numbed Dolly’s affection towards her sister. As did the wine. Greta hated people getting drunk and Dolly’s words slurred, as if they were on Dolly’s side. She held out her hand and pulled Leroy up.
‘“I Will Survive” by Gloria Gaynor to kick things off,’ he said.
An hour later, they flopped on to the sofa, old LPs and singles scattered across the floor.
‘I hope Maurice and Fanny enjoyed the show,’ she said, articulation perfect now. Dancing had cleared her head and given her absolute clarity about her life from this point forwards.
‘How’s it going with those two?’ asked Leroy, catching his breath.
‘If I bend near the tank, Maurice doesn’t swim up to my face quite as quickly as before. I’m taking that as a good sign. I know he must have been lonely sometimes, and I’m sorry about that, even though before he was never ill, had an excellent appetite and enjoyed swaying to the disco beats of “Tragedy”.’ She patted Leroy’s arm. ‘But you and I, we don’t need another person to be fulfilled. I’ve lost Greta, you’ve lost Tony, but we’ve still got friends, we’ve got each other and, unlike Maurice, trips out and hobbies. And Doritos. So, from now on, let’s make the most of what we’ve already got, and let’s promise to put ourselves first.’
Leroy’s hand shot towards hers and their little fingers held on to each other. ‘I’m in. From tomorrow. Let’s go out for lunch and on to the movies. Popcorn all round.’ He undid the top button of his chinos. ‘Can’t say I’ll be sorry to throw these away.’
Arms around each other, they stumbled into the hallway. Dolly picked up the local paper by the front door – she hadn’t it seen earlier. Underneath was a folded piece of paper.
Dolly scanned the words written in a black marker pen.
I HATE MY PARENTS. Can I have tea at yours tomorrow night? Flo X
29
Dolly sat opposite Leroy at the kitchen table.
He burped. ‘That steak and the mango colada are still repeating. Good thing we didn’t have them until after the movie.’
‘The jumper you’re wearing is almost as bright as that drink’s paper umbrella. I’ve missed it.’
